


Your Eyes Only

by Kris18



Category: Naruto
Genre: Angst, Blank Period, Chapter 699 (Naruto), Dai-nana-han | Team 7 Dynamics (Naruto), Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Gen, Hatake Kakashi is a Good Teacher, Hurt/Comfort, POV Uchiha Sasuke, Protective Haruno Sakura, SSBlankPeriod2021, Sasuke Jail Time, Sasuke Prison Time
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-28
Updated: 2021-01-28
Packaged: 2021-03-13 11:47:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,648
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29028180
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kris18/pseuds/Kris18
Summary: Sasuke is in his prison cell awaiting his sentence: a seal blocks his sight and chakra.“I move uncertainly around the room, trying not to bump into the walls. Are these real walls, or just the boundaries of my conscience?Apparently I do have one.Maybe right now having someone strong enough to cry in my place would make me feel better.In this darkness I don't even remember what tears taste like.”
Relationships: Haruno Sakura/Uchiha Sasuke
Comments: 5
Kudos: 34





	Your Eyes Only

**Author's Note:**

> [Written for SasuSaku Blank Period Week 2021. Day 4, prompt: "I'll protect you"]
> 
> It sorta answers the question: "when has Sasuke more or less consciously started to see Sakura under a different light?"

Darkness.

_Darkness._

_Darkness._

I am used to darkness: I grew up in it, I searched for it, I drew strength from it. What for a normal person is synonymous with cold and terror, to me is a source of comfort.

Maybe I have really gone insane.

This straitjacket presses on the still unhealed left arm; it feels itchy.

I move my shoulder, inhale deeply.

The seal that covers my eyes and confines my chakra is almost a blessing: not being able to use the power of the Sharingan to plunge back into memories more vivid than normal is probably a grace they granted me without even realizing it.

_Docile, silent, inert._

The days in this prison cell proceed slowly. I have few visitors – doctors and interrogators. Kakashi comes to talk to me from time to time, I barely answer to his questions. I don't see him, but I hear how his voice changes according to his companion. It's the voice of a Hokage faithful to his role in front of others, but when it's just him and me – and the guard by the door, I suppose – the tone is low and sad. The first time I noticed this difference, I felt guilty: it’s the voice of a father disappointed in his son, and in himself. It isn’t the lighthearted voice of the Kakashi that I remember.

_I'll submit to their decision._

Where did that arrogant and wounded boy who spat poison on his teacher just before chasing Orochimaru's promise go?

I know him, yet it's not me.

_Silence._

Naruto is only allowed to come to this prison cell once. I hear him stop in front of me and instinctively raise my face, as to confirm his presence with the skin of my face. With no eyes to see or chakra to feel, I can't figure out his mood.

Despite my humiliating conditions, I can't even feel ashamed or embarrassed.

I remain silent, as always. It comes easy to me. I have no words to tell him.

The fact that even Naruto doesn't utter a word makes me think that seeing me in these conditions upsets him more than it should. After all the effort to get me back to the village, he sees me tied up as an S-class criminal.

And I am, after all. I guess I should be somewhat proud of that.

\- I'll get you out of here.

I can't give an answer to that statement.

I lower my head again greeted by my familiar darkness.

_Alone with my thoughts._

The darkness that this seal creates is different from the peaceful dark of closed eyelids before falling asleep in the evening. It is also different from the coma I experienced after hours inside Itachi's Tsukuyomi.

It is absolute and pure darkness. It's emptiness. No ray of light can pierce through it. Without my chakra, I can't even understand what the room around me is like.

Is this what it means to be blind?

Am I afraid of it?

I don’t know.

I don't feel anything.

_How much time has passed?_

Days, maybe weeks.

For some reason, the medical examinations are not done by Sakura. I don't know if she doesn't want to come down here (is this a dungeon? I don't know even that) or if they prevent her to visit me.

Maybe, like Naruto, she doesn't want to see me in this cruel yet real condition.

Maybe she would cry, like she always does.

Maybe right now having someone strong enough to cry in my place would make me feel better.

In this darkness I don't even remember what tears taste like.

_Where is she?_

Ever since I noticed her absence, it comes back to me often.

Where is Sakura?

Why doesn't she show up?

_Why does this bother me so much?_

I move uncertainly around the room, trying not to bump into the walls.

Are these real walls, or just the boundaries of my conscience?

Apparently I do have one.

_I don’t see anything._

The first few days without sight were disturbing indeed. Then I got used to it. Although Naruto showed me how pleasant it is to live in the sunlight surrounded by people, the lonely darkness remains a safe haven for someone like me, who has not yet begun to deal with his sins.

Moreover, right now, around me there’s nothing that I really want to see.

_Sound of heels on the floor._

The prison cell door opens and the ticking gets closer. Whoever it is, it hasn't been announced. I follow the sound, it stops in front of me. As with Naruto, I raise my head.

_A visitor?_

I don't understand who it is. A sweet scent, heels, maybe a woman. Tsunade? A doctor?

The person remains silent. Is she also upset at the sight? Could this be the first time I’m meeting this person? I don’t recall this scent in my recent memories. The question that has haunted me for days comes back to me.

Is it _her_?

What if it’s not?

I feel an aura of chakra on my left arm, and it is a chakra I know well: it’s warm and endearing, and clashes with what remains of mine, cold and unpredictable.

\- Sakura.

\- Does it hurt?

I lower my head.

\- No.

My voice comes out hoarse and broken, unused for too long. I clear my throat.

\- Not my chakra, Sasuke-kun. The wound.

\- It itches. Sometimes.

\- It means it's healing. This is a good thing.

Sakura's chakra fades and I suddenly feel cold. I would like to ask her to continue, but the guard on the opposite side of the cell might think I want to escape. Gritting my teeth, I stay silent, motionless as always.

I feel her move and sit next to me. No one has ever sat on this uncomfortable cot. Surprised, I turn to the left, the side where I sense her presence.

\- Sorry I didn't come earlier.

I shake my head.

There are too many pauses in Sakura's voice. It's not like her. This pitiful sight must make her uncomfortable.

Will I ever finish the list of things I have to apologize for?

\- This seal is cruel.

\- It’s necessary.

\- You saved the world.

\- Naruto did.

\- You two did.

\- After I tried to destroy it.

I hear Sakura sigh beside me. I remain silent.

\- For a Sharingan holder, being deprived of sight must be traumatic. How are you feeling?

I turn my head and face ahead. How do I feel?

_I feel nothing._

\- I'm used to the darkness.

I sense Sakura gently place a hand on my leg and I react inadvertently. Being unable to see makes me defenseless to any physical contact; it's frustrating.

At least frustration is an emotion. Maybe after all I can still feel something.

_That day I couldn’t tell her anything._

\- Sakura. That day, after the battle with Naruto...

\- You don't have to explain anything.

\- No, I have to.

\- You already apologized.

I close my mouth. It’s not enough.

_It will never be enough._

\- That illusion was a low blow.

\- When I broke it, Kakashi told me that you did it to prevent me from chasing the two of you. Did you do it to protect me ...?

I keep staring at the darkness in front of me. Sakura's voice is sweet, it's not a real question. True as it is, I realize how ridiculous my methods are, always.

\- I'm sorry. For everything.

In the end I can only repeat myself. I feel Sakura's hand lightly squeeze my leg in acknowledgement.

\- I've already forgiven you.

I turn to her and for the first time in days I curse this annoying seal that makes me see only darkness.

_What is it showing in her eyes while talking to me?_

I want my eyes back to see hers. What is her glance in addressing those words to me? What feeling should I imagine in her eyes?

Is the disappointment I feel proof that I am still able to feel some emotion other than pure and blind revenge?

_Give me back my eyes. I want to learn new emotions._

\- I know that alone in this room you probably thought that sealing the Sharingan and the Rinnegan is a suitable punishment for what you did, but I disagree.

What is this tone? There is determination and empathy. I feel her moving beside me, the clicking of the heel on the stone indicates a change of position. Nervousness?

\- I... I want to see your eyes again.

I open my mouth, surprised by those words that have a more intense flavor than forgiveness: they have the sweet aftertaste of her sincere affection that I have always so ardently rejected. Before I can formulate a decent answer, I hear her stand up.

\- Tomorrow it's my turn to testify. I will protect you, Sasuke-kun.

Again, what feeling is going through Sakura's eyes right now?

_I want to see._

_Let me see._

_I want to see her._

I feel my chakra try to wake up and throb behind the seal, pressing on the optic nerve to escape from this endless night that surrounds me. The painful reaction that follows must be my retaliation for having always taken for granted what should never be taken for granted.

But now I can fix it.

\- Thanks, Sakura.

_Gratitude?_

_No, it's something else._

_But it’s still too early to think about it._

In the darkness in front of me a tiny light finally manages to get in; a face that I know well appears confusedly. Now I can envision the smile that is most likely adorning Sakura's face in response to my last sentence.

It is a smile that I saw many times as kids and that I always pretended not to notice, but that I remember well.

_When I get my eyes back, the first thing I want to see is her smile._

**Author's Note:**

> This is written for the SSBlankPeriod2021 which is going on this week. Check the #SSBlankPeriod2021 tag on Twitter for more goodies.  
> I almost never write 1st person narrator and the blindness looked like a great chance/additional challenge to do it. I'm totally coming back to Sasuke-in-Jail sooner or later, I really enjoyed writing this and I'd love to hear your opinion!
> 
> The italics is Sasuke’s subconscious, by the way.
> 
> PS: looking for beta readers!


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